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President Obama's choice of West Point as the venue for announcing his long-awaited and much- delayed decision about additional troops to Afghanistan appears contrived; it is surely designed to provide an "authentic" and apparently supportive backdrop for a consequential national security decision. It is a fine venue, but it is the wrong one. And the decision to use it is telling about Mr. Obama himself.

An announcement on which so much rests must be made from the President's own unique and highly symbolic center of authority, The Oval Office. It has meaning. It should be made by him alone, without the props of thousands in an audience and the hoopla of presidential travel and a massive press entourage. This President surely does not need the device of an audience to authenticate and legitimize his message or to bolster apparent support. But it would appear that he will seek solace, if not a measure of safety, in a large audience over which he has command.

The responsibility to make the decision is his alone, and he needs to look the nation squarely in the eye when he makes and justifies it.

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